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Physical activity and less exposure to air pollution mean bike share systems are good for your health, according to a study of London’s bike share system published in the British Medical Journal in February.

The study is based on a year’s worth of data from all 578,607 people registered for the city’s bike share system (its bikes are supplied by Bixi, the Montreal-based company chosen to provide the infrastructure for Vancouver’s delayed system).

It determined how much exercise people would get from the short trips and how that activity could reduce their chances of diseases including heart disease and diabetes.

Men and users older than 45 derived more health benefits from cycling trips than women and younger people, according to the study.

It found there were fewer injuries and fatalities than expected among bike share users, more than 70 per cent of which were men younger than 45.

The authors believed that is because women and younger users had a higher risk of injury on the roads.